MORE ON: health care

In an effort to prevent health care workers from spreading the flu to patients this winter, county health officials are mandating that medical staff around the Bay Area receive vaccinations or wear a surgical mask on the job. Health officials say flu vaccination rates among health care workers... + read more

Under a budget-paring plan crafted by Gov. Jerry Brown and approved by lawmakers, 870,000 children who were covered by the Healthy Families program will be moved to Medi-Cal in phases starting Jan. 1. But it remains unclear whether a health plan serving Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego and Los Angeles... + read more

State regulators allow nursing home companies to siphon money away from patient care to pad corporate profits, alleges a lawsuit filed by a longtime foe of the industry. Glendale attorney Russ Balisok, who has made a career of suing nursing homes, brought the suit seeking to invalidate parts... + read more

Community clinics are turning technologically savvy. Spurred on by federal funds, they are adopting electronic health records at rates exceeded only by HMOs. Community health centers once had the lowest rate of electronic health record use. Only 8 percent had them in place in 2006. Today,... + read more

Veterans waiting for decisions on disability claims wait longer than the VA has acknowledged, especially in larger urban areas. Solutions tried in four locations have not helped so far, as the backlog continues to grow. + read more

Most major California cities are failing to address the growing health care costs of government retirees, which have ballooned to more than $1 billion in some areas and soon could threaten municipalities' ability to pay other expenses, according to a recent financial analysis by a nonprofit... + read more

Across the country, doctors, hospitals and insurers are forming new health care entities to increase the efficiency and quality of health care, and lower the cost of it. Called accountable care organizations, these groups are gaining ground, even though critics consider them a repackaging of HMOs... + read more

The federal health care reform act requires most Americans to have health insurance by 2014. But what exactly will those insurance plans have to cover? California's Legislature is now grappling with that question, in the wake of last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the... + read more

The family of a San Francisco man who died after a 2008 surgery filed an appeal last week over their malpractice award – the latest in a round of legal challenges to a state law that has long pitted medical providers against consumer advocates and attorneys who represent... + read more

An effort to impose spending restrictions on California's taxpayer-funded health care districts is on hold until next year. Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, said he plans to introduce a bill in January requiring more transparency and accountability from those districts. The new... + read more

Low-income children in rural California communities are in jeopardy of losing their doctors and health care plans under Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal, state lawmakers, doctors and health advocates say. The governor is proposing to transfer nearly 900,000 children enrolled in Healthy... + read more

Gov. Jerry Brown announced a state budget yesterday that relies on hospitals and nursing homes to achieve nearly $400 million in savings – a week after a far smaller proposal prompted concerns about patient care. The governor's revised budget is the starting point to... + read more

California lawmakers are moving to crack down on taxpayer-funded health care districts that have banked tens of millions of dollars at the expense of funding community-health projects. A bill moving through the Legislature targets the spending habits of these little-known governmental... + read more

As the second anniversary of the health care reform law approaches, California health advocates hailed the changes that have been made and those on the horizon. They also noted the difficulties for California, which is emerging as one of the most aggressive states in implementing reform. While... + read more